U.S. patent number 4,262,384 [Application Number 06/115,349] was granted by the patent office on 1981-04-21 for vacuum cleaner bag assembly.
This patent grant is currently assigned to The Scott & Fetzer Company. Invention is credited to William D. Bowers.
United States Patent |
4,262,384 |
Bowers |
April 21, 1981 |
Vacuum cleaner bag assembly
Abstract
There is disclosed a vacuum cleaner bag assembly for an upright
vacuum cleaner comprising a flexible, air-permeable, outer bag
having an upper end adapted to be attached to a handle of a vacuum
cleaner. The other end of the outer bag has an open mouth attached
to an open mouth of a dirt-collecting box. The dirt-collecting box
has a suction inlet opening and also a suction outlet opening which
comprises its open mouth. A tube closes the open mouth of the box
and is in fluid communication with the box and extends toward the
top of the outer bag. A disposable inner bag is provided within the
outer bag and has an inlet opening in fluid communication with the
tube. A vacuum cleaner provided with the bag assembly may be
operated as a vacuum cleaner with a disposable bag with all of the
foregoing elements in place, or as an air-permeable outer bag
filter vacuum when the tube and disposable bag are removed.
Inventors: |
Bowers; William D. (Avon,
OH) |
Assignee: |
The Scott & Fetzer Company
(Lakewood, OH)
|
Family
ID: |
22360806 |
Appl.
No.: |
06/115,349 |
Filed: |
January 25, 1980 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
15/328; 15/351;
55/337; 55/366; 55/375; 55/378; 55/380; 55/473; 55/DIG.2;
55/DIG.3 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47L
9/1427 (20130101); A47L 9/1436 (20130101); Y10S
55/02 (20130101); Y10S 55/03 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A47L
9/14 (20060101); A47L 005/28 () |
Field of
Search: |
;15/328,350,351
;55/367,374,375,378,380,DIG.2 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Moore; Christopher K.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Pearne, Gordon, Sessions, McCoy
& Granger
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A vacuum cleaner bag assembly for an upright vacuum cleaner
comprising a flexible air-permeable outer bag having an upper end
adapted to be attached to a handle of a vacuum cleaner, the other
end of said outer bag having an open mouth attacheed to an open
mouth of a dirt-collecting box, a suction inlet opening in said
dirt-collecting box, said open mouth of said box comprising a
suction outlet opening from said box, tube means closing said open
mouth of said box and in fluid communication with said box and
extending toward the top of said outer bag, a disposable inner bag
within said outer bag having an inlet opening in fluid
communication with said tube means, whereby a vacuum cleaner
provided with such an assembly may be operated as a vacuum cleaner
with a disposable bag with all of the foregoing elements in place,
or as an air-permeable outer bag filter vacuum when the tube means
and disposable bag are removed.
2. A vacuum cleaner bag assembly according to claim 1, including
coupling means to place the inlet of the disposable inner bag in
fluid communication with said tube means, said coupling means
comprising a first flat plate surrounding and extending from a
location adjacent the end of the tube, a second flat plate hinged
to said first flat plate, said second plate having a U-shaped
opening therein extending from one edge thereof, said inner bag
having a collar extending from its inlet opening, attaching means
to attach said colar to one of said plates so that a neck of the
bag extends through said U-shaped opening with the end of said tube
projecting into the inlet opening of the bag, and means to lock
said plates together.
3. A vacuum cleaner bag assembly according to claim 2, wherein said
attaching means comprises guide slot means along the edges of said
second plate.
4. A vacuum cleaner bag assembly according to claim 3, including
means to attach said tube to the top of the outer bag.
5. A vacuum cleaner bag assembly according to claim 4, wherein said
outer bag is cloth and said inner bag is paper.
6. A vacuum cleaner bag assembly according to claim 2, wherein said
means to lock said plates together comprises a notched lip on one
of said plates which interlocks with a lip on the other plate.
7. A vacuum cleaner bag assembly according to claim 2, wherein the
connector forms a 90.degree. angle with respect to said tube.
8. A vacuum cleaner bag assembly according to claim 7, wherein the
inlet opening of said inner bag is provided with an elastic
membrane which grips the end of said connector.
Description
BACKGROUNF OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to bag assemblies for upright vacuum
cleaners, and more particulary, to an arragnement which will permit
the cleaner to be operated either as a cleaner having a disposable
bag or a cleaner having a cloth bag with a box for collecting
dirt.
Basically, there are three types of powered upright vacuum cleaners
in use today. A first type is an upright vacuum cleaner having a
soft, flexible, dirt-catching bag which has a weave such that air
is permitted to pass through the bag while the dirt remains trapped
inside. The dirt is later removed manually to a bag or other
receptacle for disposal. A second type of upright vacuum cleaner is
a vacuum cleaner having an outer bag and an encased disposable
inner bag attached to a blower outlet. The outer bag is generally
fabricatd from a flexible vinyl that has a number of perforations
therethrough to permit the free passage of air from the disposable
bag. One technique for connecting the bag to the blower outlet is
to flip the end of the bag over a tube leading from the blower
outlet and then roll a rubber sleeve onto the neck of the bag to
firmly hold the bag in place. A third type upright vacuum cleaner
is a hard box upright which has a sealed upright box containing a
disposable bag. The hard box upright vacuum cleaner is essentially
a canister-type cleaner in that the disposable bag is upstream of
the vacuum cleaner fan so that dirt is sucked into the bag, rather
than being propelled therein by the fan.
There are a number of disadvantages to each of these vacuum
cleaners. As to the cleaner having the flexible air-permeable bag,
one such disadvantage is that it is a messy operation to empty the
bag or a dirt box onto newspaper or a disposable bag. The problem
is particularly acute where the person emptying the dirt box or bag
is allergic. While a vacuum cleaner having a disposable bag is
convenient, it is difficult to connect the bag to the short tube
running to the rug-cleaning nozzle. Moreover, the elastic sleeve
which holds the bag onto the tube tends to tear during use. The
short tube frequently becomes clogged and must be cleaned.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention provides a vacuum cleaner which may be converted
from a disposable bag cleaner to a cleaner having a flexible
air-permeable bag so that the user may determine whether or not a
disposable bag should be used. Moreover, a person may temporarily
run out of disposable bags, but will still be able to use the
vacuum cleaner.
The vacuum cleaner according to this invention includes a flexible
air-permeable outer bag having an upper end which is adapted to be
attached to the handle of an upright vacuum cleaner. The other end
of the outer bag has an open mouth which is attached to an open
mouth of a dirt-collecting box. The dirt-collecting box has a
suction inlet and a suction outlet to which the outer bag is
attached. There is provided a partition across the open mouth of
the box and a tube extends from the partition toward the top of the
outer bag. A disposable inner bag is provided within the outer bag
and has an inlet opening in fluid communication with the tube. The
inner bag is attached to the tube by a coupling member which
comprises a first flat plate surrounding and extending from a
location adjacent the end of the tube. There is provided a second
channeled flat plate hinged to the first flat plate which has a
U-shaped channel therein extending from one edge thereof. The
inside bag has a collar extending from its inlet opening. The
collar slips into a guide slot provided along the edges of the
second plate and the neck of the bag extends through the U-shaped
opening with the end of the tube projecting into the inlet opening
of the bag. The plates are then locked together to securely hold
the inside disposable bag.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a vacuum cleaner, partly in
section, illustrating the bag arrangement according to this
invention;
FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the bag mounting member, partly in
section;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a disposable bag being mounted in
place;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the disposable bag;
FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view, the plane of the section being
indicated by the line 5--5 in FIG. 4; and
FIG. 6 is a fragmentary, perspective view of a portion of the cloth
bag.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring now to the drawings, and particularly FIG. 1, there is
illustrated a vacuum cleaner 10 which is employed for on-the-floor
cleaning operations. The vacuum cleaner 10 generally includes a
rug-cleaning nozzle 11, a motor housing 12, an exhaust fan outlet
nozzle 13, a dirt-collecting box 14, a bag assembly 15, and a
handle 16. As is conventional in such vacuum cleaners, a vacuum
cleaner fan (not shown) sucks dirt into the cleaner through the
rug-cleaning nozzle and then blows the dirt-laden air through the
tube 13 to some arragement for separating and collecting the dirt
from the air.
In this particular arrangement, the bag assembly 15 may be used
with or without a disposable bag. The bag assembly 15 includes a
cloth outer bag 17 having an open lower mouth 18 which is securely
but removably held to an open upper mouth 19 of the dirt box 14 by
a surrounding internally sewn spring 20.
As may be seen most clearly in FIG. 2, a removable cap 21 is
snapped into the open mouth 19 of the dirt box so that an annular
projection 22 extends into an annular groove 23 in the cap 21. The
cap 21 has an aperture 24 therethrough which receives one end of a
dirt-conveying tube 25. The tube 25 consists of the coiled wire 26
covered by a clear plastic material 27. It is preferable that the
plastic material 27 be clear or transparent so that one may inspect
the tube for any possible dirt blockages. A molded connector
assembly 28 is provided at the upper end of the hose 25 and
comprises an elbow 29 having a first flat plate 30 surrounding and
extending from a location adjacent the end or open mouth 31 of the
elbow. A second flat plate 32 is hinged to the first flat plate and
has a U-shaped opening 33 therein which extends inwardly from one
edge toward a hinger 34. A U-shaped hinge channel 35 is formed in
the second plate 32.
There is provided a disposable inner bag 36 which may be formed
from a conventional filter material, such as porous paper. The bag
36 has an opening 37 which is surrounded by a stiff collar 38. The
collar 38 is attached to the bag 36 adjacent its inner peripheral
edge 39 so that there exists a space between the collar 38 and the
bag 36. The collar 38 is a laminate having an inner layer 40 of
rubber, or the like. The layer 40 projects radially inwardly past
the collar to provide an annular lip 41 surrounding the opening 37.
The bag is assembled onto the coupling by inserting the collar 38
into the U-shaped channel 33 and then moving the second plate in
the direction of the arrow 38a in FIG. 3 so that ends 42 of the
plate 32 snap under a lip 43 provided in the first plate 30. As the
second plate snaps into place, the open mouth 31 of the connector
28 enters the opening 37 in the bag and that connection is sealed
by the annular lip 41. The disposable bag may be removed by
squeezing an extending tab 50 toward a tab 50a. This action
effectively frees the ends 43. The inner bag assembly is suspended
from the top of the outer bag 17 by a strap 44 which engages a hook
45 provided on the coupling 28. To provide access to the disposable
bag, a zipper 46 is provided in the outer bag.
To employ the vacuum cleaner 10 as a nondisposable cloth bag
vacuum, the inner bag assembly is removed, including the partition
21, so that the dirt box 14 is employed to collect dirt from the
outer bag 17. The dirt box may be emptied by removing the bottom
plate 47 which is retained on the dirt box by latches (not
shown).
Although the preferred embodiment of this invention has been shown
and described, it should be understood that various modifications
and rearrangements of the parts may be resorted to without
departing from the scope of the invention as disclosed and claimed
herein.
* * * * *